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Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up.

If you’re one of those people who rate holidays on the candy scale, Easter scores high. In fact, I’d rank it the second best candy holiday, right behind Halloween. (What, I wonder, is the worst candy holiday? I hate to think about it.) The numbers back me up.

– This year, Americans will spend $2.1 billion on Easter candy. That’s 120 million pounds of the stuff.

– There should be no shortage of key Easter confections: 16 billion jelly beans and 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies have been made for the holiday.

– In the category of good to know: seventy six percent of Americans think you should eat chocolate bunny ears first.

While you figure out how you’re making a dent in those excellent statistics, which come straight from statisticbrain.com, here are some other monumental Easter sweets.

World’s Largest Chocolate Easter Egg
If you think the world’s biggest egg couldn’t possibly weigh more than seven tons, you’re not thinking big enough. According to the estimable Guinness Book of World Records, the winning egg weighed in at 15,873 pounds, or just a little short of eight tons. Created by Tosca in Italy in April 2011, the magnificent candy was over 34 feet tall and, at its widest point, had a circumference of 64 feet.

Happiest Chocolate Bunny
For those who want to stay positive* for Easter, Jacques Torres’s Smiling Bunny is over two feet tall, hand-painted and available in milk, dark or white chocolate, for $99. You can also get a chocolate chicken or a chocolate rooster. You have to go to one of Torres’s New York City stores to buy them, though. The smaller, cheaper, shippable option is the chocolate pig, in milk or dark chocolate; that’s $12, and a good way to start a whole chocolate barnyard.

Jelly Beans Masquerading as SmoothiesJelly Belly has never been afraid to break down flavor barriers in the jelly bean world (among their Rookie Flavors are Birthday Cake Remix and Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip). Now comes their new Superfruit Mix, in flavors that will make you think you’re on line at the juice counter: Acai berry, Barbados cherry, cranberry, blueberry and pomegranate. Yhey’re all made with real fruit juice and purees, but do they make a good smoothie?

Peeps Going Mobile
Since it's now legal to artificially dye animals in Florida, it should come as no surprise that those signature yellow Peeps are changing colors, too. What's more, you don't have to pick just one color. Please welcome to the world Peeps Rainbow Pops, which are four multi-colored marshmallow Peeps (including turquoise blue, hot pink and neon green) smashed together on a stick. You decide which color tastes best.

Newest Indispensable Easter Sweet: Cupcakes
I know they’re not exactly in the candy category. But Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown Cupcakes, which recently opened their first store in Manhattan, has adorable Easter cupcakes with fondant bunnies poking out of extruded green grass frosting. If you’ve had enough of Easter by this time, Georgetown celebrates other events via cupcake: April is also the month for Cherry Blossom cupcakes; in May look for Mother's Day Cupcakes with little Mom plaques on top.

soundoff(14 Responses)

Burbank

The most "uncandy" holiday would be 4th of July, that's more for BBQ or picnic food with perhaps a pie or cake thrown in. Someone mentioned New Year's, but most people are still eating leftover stuff from Christmas and not everyone makes a resolution to diet on New Year's, that's only a small part of the population.

April 9, 2012 at 1:33 pm |

Ann

The "worst" candy holiday is clearly New Year's Day – when everyone is starting their resolutions!

April 9, 2012 at 12:18 pm |

rtbrno65

(What, I wonder, is the worst candy holiday? I hate to think about it.)

That's easy, July 4th. Have you ever tried eating a Hershey Bar in 90 degree heat?

April 8, 2012 at 1:01 pm |

Knormb

Yes, but Smores are quite tasty. To me Memorial Day and candy just don't work...

April 9, 2012 at 11:48 am |

Ryan Fahey

I blogged at Christmas about how every holiday is surrounded by chocolate and how sugar goes with every holiday celebration. It is like giving people drugs. http://www.wellnessnetworkblog.blogspot.com explains more.

April 7, 2012 at 1:11 pm |

Burbank

People are also doing genuine drugs at every holiday too. Booze is a drug.

April 9, 2012 at 1:35 pm |

thecandymancan

If you are really looking for something very special you might want to go to Amazon and try David's Signature Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans. They are the best jelly bean on the market.

April 6, 2012 at 12:28 am |

Mike from Detroit

The Jelly Belly superfruits have been out for a year or so. Best jellybeans on Earth, and I am a total jellybean freak. $9 a pound on the JB webste; worth every penny.